Dev.to AI 🤖 Ai Fri, 13 Nov 2026 14:41:55 +0000 👁 0 📖 2 min read

WhatsApp in n8n, the official way

How I built the AutomiQ community node WhatsApp is where many of my clients already talk to their customers. Connecting it to n8n sounds simple. It is not. You need a Meta app, business verification, app review, webho

How I built the AutomiQ community node

WhatsApp is where many of my clients already talk to their customers. Connecting it to n8n sounds simple. It is not.

You need a Meta app, business verification, app review, webhook setup, and token handling. Most small companies do not want to do this themselves. I built a gateway at AutomiQ that handles it, and then a community node so n8n users can use it without custom HTTP calls.

What the node does

The node is called AutomiQ for WhatsApp. It has two parts:

Action node: Send WhatsApp messages from any workflow.
Trigger node: Start a workflow when a message comes in.

It also covers gateway resources for your account, message deliveries, and media.

It runs on the official Meta Cloud API. No unofficial routes, no risk of number bans.

How it works

Your WhatsApp number is connected to the AutomiQ gateway through Meta's official flow.
Incoming messages reach the gateway. It verifies the signature and forwards them to your n8n trigger.
Outgoing messages go from your workflow to the gateway, then to Meta.

The gateway keeps the secrets, so n8n only needs one AutomiQ API key. Tokens are encrypted and webhook secrets are stored safely.

Setup

In n8n, go to Settings > Community Nodes.
Install @automiq/n8n-nodes-automiq.
Create a credential with your AutomiQ API key.
Add the AutomiQ for WhatsApp node to a workflow.

You can get access at automiq.fi. The free plan includes guided onboarding to the Meta Cloud API. You pay Meta directly for conversations.

Example workflow

A simple auto-reply:

AutomiQ WhatsApp Trigger receives a customer message.
AI Agent or IF node decides the answer.
AutomiQ WhatsApp node sends the reply.
Google Sheets or a database logs the conversation.

Typical uses: quote requests, order status, and collecting data from workers in the field.

Lessons learned

Reviewers dislike thin wrappers. n8n's team first said my node was a direct proxy of the Meta API. I added native gateway routes for account, deliveries, and media. I released v0.3.1 and answered the reviewers by email. The node was approved.
Keep secrets out of n8n. One gateway key is easier to rotate than many Meta tokens.
Use the official API. It takes longer to set up, but clients can trust it.

Next, I plan to migrate my own workflows to the node and add the Pro plan features.